View full sizeExpress-Times File Photo | BILL ADAMSJose Cruz Jr. was convicted of first-degree murder and faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

The jury in the Jose Cruz Jr. homicide trial wrestled with whether Cruz was guilty of first- or third-degree murder, and it was not until the very end of their more than 10 hours of deliberations that they finally reached a decision.

"It took a great deal of work, and at one point it looked like we'd have to go in to the judge and say, 'We're having trouble agreeing,'" said Jim Desouza, 65, of Coopersburg. "But, ultimately, we didn't have to do that.''

Cruz faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison under the first-degree murder conviction. If convicted of third-degree, he would have faced 20 to 40 years and could eventually have been paroled.

Jimenez-Gonzalez tried to shove Cruz outside and grab his gun, and Cruz shot him twice after a brief struggle. Cruz's attorney, Glennis Clark, tried to argue Cruz "produced the gun as a reaction from being man-handled by a larger man."

Desouza said some jurors were undecided for hours whether or not that struggle meant a first-degree murder charge was warranted, and that some of the jurors even "re-enacted" the fight to try to get a clearer picture.

Those demonstrations helped them decide on a first-degree conviction rather than third-degree, but Desouza said it was Cruz's one-word response to a cross-examination question that truly sealed the deal.

Desouza said while there was no question Cruz also pulled the trigger in that shooting, the jury found no evidence presented proved he intended to kill Shook when he shot him. They instead found Cruz guilty of aggravated assault.

That decision, like the one about first-degree murder, took a long time for the jury to reach, and they did not come to a final conclusion until near the end of the second day of deliberations Wednesday, Desouza said.

Cruz will be formally sentenced Aug. 29 by Lehigh County Judge Kelly Banach. The other 11 jurors declined to comment for this story.